Carrie Hoffman Assesses Ninth Circuit Ruling in Federal Arbitration Exemption Case

Foley & Lardner LLP partner Carrie Hoffman is quoted in the Law360 article, “Bright Line On Arbitration Seen As Risk To Workers’ Right,” offering insight on the recent Ninth Circuit ruling in Lo Falcon LLC et al. v. Amazon.com et al.,which held that delivery service partners are not covered by the Federal Arbitration Act arbitration exemption because it does not extend to corporate entities.

Hoffman, who is chair of Foley’s Labor & Employment Practice, referenced the Fourth Circuit’s 2023 ruling on this issue, which also held that while individual employees may be covered by the exemption, business entities are not. She commented that the opinions suggest the delivery service partners had equal bargaining power with Amazon.

“If I’m just setting up Carrie Hoffman Inc. and doing all the work myself, I think a court’s less likely to think we’re of equal bargaining power, especially if it’s the entity requiring you like an Amazon,” Hoffman added.

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